Best Online Storage List for 2012

We’re halfway through 2012 now and we have a pretty good handle on which online storage providers can be considered the best. There are a lot of great file storage services on the internet and it was not easy to pick just a few as “the best.” Every company approach online storage in a unique manner, so some of this list is based on my own experiences and opinion.

This list had to be broken down into a few categories for it to be useful. Some storage companies target the business market, others target casual computer users. It wouldn’t make sense to make a list of the best overall storage providers because there are just too many different uses for online storage. So, the following list includes online storage providers from three different categories.

Best Online Storage Provider for Businesses

A couple of the other writers at OnlineFileStorage.com prefer Livedrive, but my favorite business storage service is Box.com. Box.com is the leader the business market for a reason: it’s the best. Box.com provides online storage, file syncing, collaboration, file versioning and more. Developers are welcome to create plugins for Box.com and there have been numerous apps that make Box.com even more useful in the enterprise world.

Livedrive offers similar features, but Box.com has a great support team that helps businesses get started with Box.com. When your business joins with Box.com, you’ll get a custom plan designed for your business and help from actual Box.com employees. In the crowded business-cloud market, Box.com stands out as the best solution for companies of all sizes.

Best Online Storage Company for Individuals

SpiderOak was an easy pick for this category. There are dozens of other services that target individuals, but SpiderOak does it best. SpiderOak provides file syncing between multiple computers, online storage for files of all types and simple file sharing.

SpiderOak also has the best security standards of the industry with its encryption-before-transfer and encryption-on-transfer policies. SpiderOak also stands out because it is the only file storage service that has versions for Windows, Mac and Linux setups. You can even use SpiderOak to sync files between computers that run different operating systems.

Best for Unlimited Backup

This was the toughest category because there are several strong unlimited backup providers. Carbonite, Backblaze and ZipCloud were all contenders in the “unlimited category.” In the end, I went with ZipCloud because it provides the most features without sacrificing on pricing.

ZipCloud’s biggest selling point is its unlimited backup pricing plan. For a flat fee, you get as much backup space as you want. There are never any over-use charges or limitations on how much information you can back up online. ZipCloud isn’t the only unlimited backup provider, but it is the only one that also includes file syncing between multiple computers.

Box.com, SpiderOak and ZipCloud are all my personal favorites for 2012, but there are a lot of other options out there. If you’re still open to comparing different services, take a look at our reviews page for more information about each file storage company.